Sunderland and Leeds United have withdrawn their players from international duty following a disagreement with the club’s decision.

Leeds and Sunderland players left out of squad – National team not taking risks

have been omitted from Switzerland’s squad to take on Norway over injury concerns.

Blick report that Switlezland have left Xhaka and Okafor out of the squad for tonight’s friendly with Norway as a precaution.

According to their information, Switzerland have omitted as a precautionary measure following injuries.

The decision to leave out the Leeds and Sunderland players was made in consultation with the players and the coaching staff. There were concerns about both, who are ‘returning from injury’. Switzerland have decided not to risk either.

Xhaka management

Granit Xhaka, Switzerland’s captain, was a doubt for the game this evening after missing training on Monday. Sport Witness covered his absence in a report yesterday afternoon.

That included comments from Switzerland manager Murat Yakin on the matter. “He is showing the effects of a high workload. He cannot start the game,” Yakin explained to journalists.

That left the door open for perhaps a substitute appearance. Xhaka played 45 minutes in the friendly with Germany last week but Yakin had insisted they would be careful with the Sunderland midfielder during this international break.

Okafor worries

A report today gave Noah Okafor ‘questionable’ status for the game against Norway this evening.

That explained that the Leeds forward had picked up a knock while training with the Switzerland squad this week.

He was set to be a substitute in the defeat to Germany but ended up missing out after picking up an injury in the warm up.

It was a major blow for the Leeds forward, who has been working to get back into his nation’s good books for month. That was already curtailed by injury, and now it has happened again.

Sunderland and Leeds watching on

Sunderland and Leeds will be watching on with interest. The former will certainly be please that their star man hasn’t been risked given his recent return from injury.

The Black Cats will need Xhaka fit and firing if they’re to finish the season strongly. Losing him for an extended period of time due to friendlies would have been a major blow.

The same can be said for Leeds. They need Okafor fit and ready to help in their battle against the drop. Risking him further, after another injury, wouldn’t have helped the cause.

Leeds and Sunderland players have been left out of their national teams’ squads as managers play it safe. Leeds United’s Max Wober has withdrawn from the Austria national team squad due to ongoing muscle concerns. Wober, who has made just 28 appearances for Leeds since joining in January 2023, was not expected to feature in Austria’s match against South Korea ¹.

Sunderland’s Reinildo Mandava has also been knocked out of the AFCON tournament with Mozambique, suffering a 4-0 defeat to Nigeria. Other Sunderland players, including Habib Diarra, Chemsdine Talbi, Noah Sadiki, Arthur Masuaku, and Bertrand Traore, are still in the tournament with their respective nations ² ³.

As for Leeds, other players like Noah Okafor (Switzerland) and Gabriel Gudmundsson (Sweden) are uncertain to make their national teams’ World Cup squads due to concerns over attitude and performance. Wales’ Joe Rodon, Ethan Ampadu, Karl Darlow, and Dan James have slim chances of qualifying for the World Cup through the play-offs